Plant houses? Maybe

A developer wants to buy the Delta College farm, but in a county where ag is king, seeds of doubt have been sown

MANTECA - Fifteen miles south of Stockton's crowded San Joaquin Delta College campus sits a 160-acre farm, where a filly and two colts munched on grain from a bucket on a misty Thursday afternoon not far from orchards that later this year will yield more than two dozen varieties of almonds.

MANTECA - Fifteen miles south of Stockton's crowded San Joaquin Delta College campus sits a 160-acre farm, where a filly and two colts munched on grain from a bucket on a misty Thursday afternoon not far from orchards that later this year will yield more than two dozen varieties of almonds.

You probably won't see students hurrying about with backpacks, but this is Delta College property - and has been since the 1970s, when the Stockton campus was built.

Now, however, college administrators are asking whether the farm has a place in Delta's future.

Prompted by an offer from a developer, college trustees last week took a first step - albeit a tentative one - toward selling the property, though the matter is far from decided.

Terms of the offer are not public. Trustees will be briefed behind closed doors at their meeting in February.

The land, however, appears to be "very valuable," Delta President Kathy Hart said Friday. On the east is busy Highway 99; on the south is Lathrop Road, a major artery; and on the west are homes, some of which are still under construction as Manteca's urban edges creep outward.

A community college disposing of a farm that is at least occasionally used for educational purposes may prove controversial in San Joaquin County, where agriculture is the primary industry, valued at more than $2 billion a year.

Delta had no reason to ask that question until recently. That's because the farm has quietly run itself all of these years. Revenue from the crops pays for expenses; the college wasn't looking to unload the property.

Then came the unsolicited offer from the developer, whom Hart would not name.

"It would be irresponsible of us not to at least look at the possibility," Hart said. "We haven't done anything. There's no irreparable damage that's going to occur as a result of our looking at this. ... If (the trustees) don't want to do it, I'm fine with that."

The farm was originally intended as a location for a south county campus. Ultimately, however, the board went with a controversial plan to build in Mountain House instead. That campus opened in 2009.

As a result, the farm today has limited educational value, Hart said.

Two classrooms are nudged into a corner, but they are rarely used in this era of budget cuts.

Students involved in the college's small animal husbandry program learn how to take care of the horses, sheep and pigs, and practice showing animals for competitions with other community colleges.

Soil science students also make an occasional appearance. They'll be back in February to plant vegetables across an open plot of tilled earth.

"It's a good learning experience," said the manager of the farm, Jim Burkhard. "A lot of kids don't know their food source. It's very sad."

All in all, though, Delta's ag programs are limited, despite the county's rich farm heritage. Many students travel instead to Modesto Junior College, which has a more advanced program.

Those Delta programs that do use the farm could be relocated, Hart said. Long term, she said she envisions Delta shifting its focus from on-the-ground farming toward agribusiness, giving students important marketing and accounting skills to support the regional ag economy.

Bruce Blodgett, executive director of the San Joaquin Farm Bureau Federation, said the bureau hasn't taken a formal position on the possible sale. He did say he found the idea of eliminating the farm as an educational tool to be "troubling."

"You don't learn in a classroom when it comes to agriculture," he said. "You have to get out on the ground, get your hands dirty. This is a pretty important industry for San Joaquin County, and we would hope that Delta College still sees a place for that."

Ted Simas, a former Delta trustee who lives in Manteca, called the concept of selling the farm "shortsighted."

"It's indisputable that land is more valuable than cash," he said. "God doesn't make any more of it."

Money from any sale would not be used to simply buoy the college's general fund, Hart said. The money could only go to capital projects or deferred maintenance - and the main campus in Stockton is showing its age.

Nor would any sale move forward lickety-split. State law requires the college to deem unwanted property as "surplus" and offer it first at fair market value to schools, government and nonprofit charitable organizations.

Trustees can back out at any time.

"You don't have to take anything," Hart said. "At any point in the process, you can say, 'No, we're not doing it.' "